PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Max Suter has no idea why it always seems to happen. But Suter has noticed the Syracuse defense’s tendency to come up with the big play, the big series, when it matters the most.

‘I don’t know what it is about this team,’ said Suter, a senior safety. ‘Any time we need a stop, we come up with a stop.’

On Saturday against Rutgers, it was 10 yards. Ten yards that turned the game on its end and sent Syracuse bowling with a 13-10 win, instead of going home wondering. Ten yards that enabled a kicker on SU’s side to celebrate, instead of one on Rutgers’ side.

It was all part of a generally stout defense that had its main trouble all day against Rutgers’ Wild Knight formation, allowing a total of 280 yards of Rutgers offense. But that didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was that the Scarlet Knights were driving, far down in SU territory to the 17-yard line.

‘It was a tough game, an ugly game,’ senior linebacker Doug Hogue said. ‘But we executed at the end of the game when we needed to.’

Rutgers got the ball at its own 43 in crunch time — just fewer than nine minutes to play. And quickly and simply, the Scarlet Knights moved the ball downfield the same way they had all game.

The Wild Knight. Jeremy Deering, a wide receiver who was the main threat under center in the Wild Knight formation Saturday, ran for five yards on first down. Then for six.

Then came the big play. On third-and-3 from the Syracuse 39-yard line, Deering busted up the middle for 22 yards. And Rutgers kicker San San Te stood on the sideline, lining it up, imagining a 35-yard field goal try.

‘As a defense, your mentality is three-and-out,’ SU cornerback Da’Mon Merkerson said. ‘Three-and-get-the-Gatorades. We came together. We said, let’s stop them. Hold them. Make a stand, and we’ll see if we can give our offense another opportunity to go down there and score.’

Rutgers went away from Deering on the very next play. And it hurt. Kordell Young ran to the right and got pushed back, fumbling the ball out of bounds. A loss of eight.

Back to Deering. He gained a simple six yards back to the Syracuse 19-yard line, six of his 166 rushing yards on the day on 29 rushes that came almost exclusively out of the Wild Knight.

‘The opportunity to run the football against a very blitz-heavy defense,’ Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said when asked why his game plan so heavily included the Wild Knight. ‘We thought it would be effective.’

For most of the day, it was. So on third-and-12 from the SU 19-yard line, would Schiano go back to Deering? Take the near six yards Deering had averaged all game and kick the 31-yarder?

Instead, Schiano went to quarterback Tom Savage under center, a more conventional approach.

And Derrell Smith made Rutgers pay. Barely. He fell before he could put a solid hit on Savage, but he was there. And he grabbed Savage’s foot, held on for dear life and mustered enough strength to bring him down. Another loss of eight.

‘Honestly, I don’t know how I got the sack,’ Smith said. ‘I was on the ground. Fortunately, I grabbed his foot. I think that was a big play.’

So, in three plays, Rutgers moved back from the 17-yard line to the 27. Ten yards. It was all the difference in what would come next.

That 35-yard field goal Te had envisioned was now a 45-yarder. The snap wasn’t perfect, and Te kicked a low, wobbly line drive that fell just short. 

‘When I saw the ref wave his hands,’ said SU defensive tackle Anthony Perkins, motioning a ‘no good’ signal, ‘I was just ecstatic.’

And because of the 10 yards, all the Syracuse defense had to do was watch as its offense proceeded to march down the field and come up big when it mattered most. It watched as Marcus Sales caught a pass for 11 yards, as Antwon Bailey ran for 15 and as Delone Carter ran for nine.

And it watched as its kicker, Ross Krautman, seamlessly nailed a 24-yarder. As he, like the defense, came up big when it mattered most.

‘It was a great win for us,’ Suter said. ‘A great win.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on November 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm